The council was founded on 29 October 1881 at a meeting of eleven trade unionists. Their immediate aim was to support an ongoing strike of linen tenters, who were facing a 10% cut in their wages. It was the second
trades council to be established in
Ireland, after the Cork Workers' Council. In its early years, the council was dominated by its president, Samuel Munro, and secretary
Alexander Bowman. Most of its affiliates were small, local unions representing skilled workers. but achieved little and struggled to survive during the 1880s. It was boosted by affiliations from new unions of unskilled workers during the 1890s. However, their representatives were more radical, and
William Walker and John Murphy became prominent, persuading the council to affiliate to the British
Labour Representation Committee and run a joint newspaper, the
Belfast Labour Chronicle, with their
Belfast Labour Representation Committee. The council led opposition to conscription during
World War I, organising a meeting of 20,000 people on the issue. It was particularly prominent during the
Belfast strike, 1919, when it described itself as a "Council of Action" and largely controlled the movement of goods in the city. During the 1930s, the council worked with the
Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) to campaign against unemployment and for improved benefits for unemployed workers. By the 1940s, members of the
Communist Party of Northern Ireland held leading roles on the council. In 1965, it organised a conference on
civil rights, and with various other groups, it formed the
Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association the following year. ==Secretaries==